# Name this method **URL:** \ **Category:** ruby-talk\ **Created:** [2 December 2007 20:58 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681 "2007-12-02T20:58:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1

**Author:** ![Daniel\_Waite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@Daniel\_Waite](https://rubytalk.org/u/Daniel_Waite)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2007 20:58 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/1 "2007-12-02T20:58:29Z")

First off, if there's already a method that does this please point it out; I couldn't find one so I wrote my own. It's currently called #to\_elapsed\_time and is attached to Fixnum. What it does... > > 10.to\_elapsed\_time =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>0, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>0} > > 75.to\_elapsed\_time =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>1, :seconds=\>15, :hours=\>0} > > 75018.to\_elapsed\_time =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>50, :seconds=\>18, :hours=\>20} > > 789010.to\_elapsed\_time =\> {:days=\>9, :minutes=\>10, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>3} The current name makes sense to me because I wrote it with this in mind: started = Time.now ended = Time.now + some\_time\_into\_the\_future elapsed = (ended.to\_i - started.to\_i).to\_elapsed\_time Looking at it now I suppose I could attach it to Time, too... time\_1.elapsed(time\_2) That would be kinda cool, too. What do you think? > **···** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C). ---

**Author:** ![fedzor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@fedzor](https://rubytalk.org/u/fedzor)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2007 21:18 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/2 "2007-12-02T21:18:17Z")

> First off, if there's already a method that does this please point it > out; I couldn't find one so I wrote my own. > > It's currently called #to\_elapsed\_time and is attached to Fixnum. What > it does... > > > > 10.to\_elapsed\_time > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>0, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>0} > > > > 75.to\_elapsed\_time > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>1, :seconds=\>15, :hours=\>0} > > > > 75018.to\_elapsed\_time > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>50, :seconds=\>18, :hours=\>20} > > > > 789010.to\_elapsed\_time > > =\> {:days=\>9, :minutes=\>10, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>3} That's DEFINITELY a nice method to have around 🙂 Unfortunately.... > started = Time.now > ended = Time.now + some\_time\_into\_the\_future > elapsed = (ended.to\_i - started.to\_i).to\_elapsed\_time puts ended - started #=\> Some Time already works Don't trash your method though! It will probably come in handy one day Ari Brown --------------------------------------------| If you're not living on the edge, then you're just wasting space. > **···** > > On Dec 2, 2007, at 3:58 PM, Daniel Waite wrote: ---

**Author:** ![Chris\_Shea1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b487fb/32.png) [@Chris\_Shea1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Chris_Shea1)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2007 21:30 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/3 "2007-12-02T21:30:06Z")

You might want to take a look at the Duration gem: [http://rubyforge.org/projects/duration/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/duration/) It's very similar to what you have here. HTH, Chris > **···** > > On Dec 2, 1:58 pm, Daniel Waite \ wrote: > > > First off, if there's already a method that does this please point it > > out; I couldn't find one so I wrote my own. > > > > It's currently called #to\_elapsed\_time and is attached to Fixnum. What > > it does... > > > > \>\> 10.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>0, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>0}\>\> 75.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>1, :seconds=\>15, :hours=\>0}\>\> 75018.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>50, :seconds=\>18, :hours=\>20}\>\> 789010.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>9, :minutes=\>10, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>3} > > > > The current name makes sense to me because I wrote it with this in mind: > > > > started = Time.now > > ended = Time.now + some\_time\_into\_the\_future > > elapsed = (ended.to\_i - started.to\_i).to\_elapsed\_time > > > > Looking at it now I suppose I could attach it to Time, too... > > > > time\_1.elapsed(time\_2) > > > > That would be kinda cool, too. > > > > What do you think? > > -- > > Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. ---

**Author:** ![Gavin\_Kistner3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@Gavin\_Kistner3](https://rubytalk.org/u/Gavin_Kistner3)\ **Post date:** [3 December 2007 03:49 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/4 "2007-12-03T03:49:59Z")

Not as cool as the duration gem, but I offer this also: [http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/266462](http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/266462) > **···** > > On Dec 2, 1:58 pm, Daniel Waite \ wrote: > > > First off, if there's already a method that does this please point it > > out; I couldn't find one so I wrote my own. > > > > It's currently called #to\_elapsed\_time and is attached to Fixnum. What > > it does... > > > > \>\> 10.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>0, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>0}\>\> 75.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>1, :seconds=\>15, :hours=\>0}\>\> 75018.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>50, :seconds=\>18, :hours=\>20}\>\> 789010.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>9, :minutes=\>10, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>3} > > > > The current name makes sense to me because I wrote it with this in mind: > > > > started = Time.now > > ended = Time.now + some\_time\_into\_the\_future > > elapsed = (ended.to\_i - started.to\_i).to\_elapsed\_time ---

**Author:** ![Daniel\_Waite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@Daniel\_Waite](https://rubytalk.org/u/Daniel_Waite)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2007 21:25 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/5 "2007-12-02T21:25:41Z")

thefed wrote: > > > > 75018.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>0, :minutes=\>50, :seconds=\>18, :hours=\>20} > > > > > > 789010.to\_elapsed\_time > > > > =\> {:days=\>9, :minutes=\>10, :seconds=\>10, :hours=\>3} > > That's DEFINITELY a nice method to have around 🙂 Thank you! > Unfortunately.... > > > started = Time.now > > ended = Time.now + some\_time\_into\_the\_future > > elapsed = (ended.to\_i - started.to\_i).to\_elapsed\_time > > puts ended - started > #=\> Some Time > > already works I aware of that, but didn't want a float due to its inaccuracies. (Though I admit I'm still uncertain exactly HOW those inconsistencies manifest themselves, I know they can be wrong from time to time.) I suppose I could write.. (ended - started).to\_i > Don't trash your method though! It will probably come in handy one day Thank you again! 🙂 I've added elapsed to Time, which piggybacks off Fixnum's implementation (that sounds bad... is it?) class Fixnum def seconds\_into\_time elapsed\_time = Hash.new elapsed\_time[:days], remainder = self.divmod(86400) elapsed\_time[:hours], remainder = remainder.divmod(3600) elapsed\_time[:minutes], remainder = remainder.divmod(60) elapsed\_time[:seconds] = remainder elapsed\_time end end class Time def elapsed(time) (time - self).to\_i.seconds\_into\_time end end As you can see I renamed it to #seconds\_into\_time. Any thoughts on that name? I like the to\_xxx family of methods, but... 100.to\_time\_breakdown 100.from\_seconds\_into\_time\_breakdown 100.to\_time 100.to\_elapsed\_time None of them feel right. I'm sad. =( > **···** > > > On Dec 2, 2007, at 3:58 PM, Daniel Waite wrote: > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C). ---

**Author:** ![Daniel\_Waite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@Daniel\_Waite](https://rubytalk.org/u/Daniel_Waite)\ **Post date:** [2 December 2007 21:41 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/6 "2007-12-02T21:41:24Z")

Chris Shea wrote: > You might want to take a look at the Duration gem: > [http://rubyforge.org/projects/duration/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/duration/) > > It's very similar to what you have here. Damn it! That makes so much more sense! Just like Ruby makes the concept of a range explicit via Range, I should have thought to make \_duration\_ (brilliant name, by the way) explicit via Duration. Objects, Daniel, objects! Not objects grafted as methods onto other objects! Here's an excerpt from the doc: require 'duration' =\> true d = Duration.new(60 \* 60 \* 24 \* 10 + 120 + 30) =\> #\ d.to\_s =\> "1 week, 3 days, 2 minutes and 30 seconds" [d.weeks, d.days] =\> [1, 3] d.days = 7; d =\> #\ d.strftime('%w w, %d d, %h h, %m m, %s s') =\> "2 w, 0 d, 0 h, 2 m, 30 s" And a direct link to the docs: [http://duration.rubyforge.org/doc/](http://duration.rubyforge.org/doc/) Thanks Chris for pointing this out to me. > **···** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C). ---

**Author:** ![Daniel\_DeLorme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Daniel\_DeLorme](https://rubytalk.org/u/Daniel_DeLorme)\ **Post date:** [3 December 2007 04:08 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/name-this-method/42681/7 "2007-12-03T04:08:36Z")

Phrogz wrote: > > started = Time.now > > ended = Time.now + some\_time\_into\_the\_future > > elapsed = (ended.to\_i - started.to\_i).to\_elapsed\_time > > Not as cool as the duration gem, but I offer this also: > [http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/266462](http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/266462) That approach works for a while but you can't accurately represent months or years because some months and some years have more seconds in them than some others. Let's see if I can get anyone interested in my implementation... require "date class Time #get the difference between 2 times as number of years+months+days+... def diff(other) t1,t2 = [self,other].map do |t| DateTime.new(t.year, t.mon, t.day, t.hour, t.min, t.sec, Rational(t.utc\_offset, 86400)) end diff = Hash.new(0) diff[:past] = t2 \< t1 t1,t2 = t2,t1 if diff[:past] t = t1 diff[:str] = "" t = calc\_diff(diff,:year, t2){ |n| t \>\> 12\*n } t = calc\_diff(diff,:month, t2){ |n| t \>\> n } t = calc\_diff(diff,:day, t2){ |n| t + n } t = calc\_diff(diff,:hour, t2){ |n| t + Rational(n,24) } t = calc\_diff(diff,:minute,t2){ |n| t + Rational(n,24\*60) } t = calc\_diff(diff,:second,t2){ |n| t + Rational(n,24\*60\*60) } diff end #utility method used above def calc\_diff(diff,type,t2) diff[type] += 1 until t2 \< yield(diff[type]+1) if diff[type] \> 0 diff[:str] \<\< ", " unless diff[:str].empty? diff[:str] \<\< "#{diff[type]} #{type}" diff[:str] \<\< "s" if diff[type] \> 1 end yield(diff[type]) end private :calc\_diff #get the difference between 2 times as a human-friendly string #e.g. "5 hours, 23 minutes" def span\_to(other) n = other - self return "%.3f second" % n if n.abs \< 1 d = self.diff(other) str = d[:str].split(",").first(2).join(",") str.gsub!(/(\d+)/,'-\1') if d[:past] return str end def time\_past self.span\_to(Time.now) end def time\_left Time.now.span\_to(self) end end \>\> t = Time.now =\> Mon Dec 03 13:02:21 JST 2007 \>\> t.diff(t+3600) =\> {:hour=\>1, :str=\>"1 hour", :past=\>false} \>\> t.diff(t+86400) =\> {:str=\>"1 day", :day=\>1, :past=\>false} \>\> t.diff(t+123456) =\> {:second=\>36, :hour=\>10, :str=\>"1 day, 10 hours, 17 minutes, 36 seconds", :day=\>1, :past=\>false, :minute=\>17} \>\> Time.mktime(2007,1,1).diff Time.mktime(2007,10,1) =\> {:str=\>"9 months", :past=\>false, :month=\>9} \>\> Time.mktime(2007,1,1).diff Time.mktime(2008,1,1) =\> {:year=\>1, :str=\>"1 year", :past=\>false} > **···** > > > On Dec 2, 1:58 pm, Daniel Waite \ wrote: